Government pays $200,000 for 2 days' work

The Department of Treasury and Finance last year paid $200,000 to a consultant that was contracted for just two days' work, and that ultimately produced a report drawn from publicly available information, Auditor-General John Doyle has found.

The finding is included in a review of 63 appointments since the Napthine government took office in 2010 promising to drastically cut the use of consultants.

The report, released on Thursday, found the hiring of consultants and advisers had not been properly scrutinised by Victorian government departments, and that appointments often lacked transparency.

And it found it was unclear whether the pledge by the incoming government to slash $185 million in spending on consultants in its first term had been effective, as the Victorian Treasury could not provide reliable data on whether the savings were achieved.

Related Content

The report said Treasury considered ''verbal attestations'' by the department's chief financial officer to be ''adequate in the circumstances to confirm the achievement of savings''.

The review by Mr Doyle audited four departments, and found none were able to demonstrate they consistently planned, managed and properly evaluated their use of highly paid consultants and advisers. ''I found an absence of a structured, documented and transparent approach to managing these engagements that was tantamount to maladministration,'' Mr Doyle wrote.

Advertisement

He said that, ''for the vast majority of engagements, the documentary evidence falls well short of demonstrating that these engagements achieved value for money''.

In the $200,000 case, Treasury argued that - although the contract was terminated two days after it was signed - the consultant had ultimately done 13 days' work on an unnamed ''major commercial transaction'' in August 2013.

Treasury terminated the contract shortly after it was signed after a significant conflict of interest was detected. The rest of the contract was not fulfilled.

The contractor was then paid $200,000 ''for the delivery of a summary report drawn from publicly available information'', the Auditor-General found.

A review of 16 Education Department contracts found none of them adequately documented how planning for the spending occurred - despite 10 of the projects being worth more than $150,000.

''Maladministration - where processes were not properly or appropriately performed - characterised how departments managed the sampled [contracts],'' the Auditor-General said.

The report also found:

■ In 40 out of 63 appointments assessed, departments did not complete and keep conflict of interest forms.

■ In 17 cases, departments received only one quote and did not properly assess it.